Black Friday - Bah Humbug!

Posted Thursday, November 22, 2007, at 12:44 PM

I recall seeing a sign someplace in town that said "Come Shop On The Bricks In McCook", or something like that. Now since I was driving through an unfamiliar town, I was paying a bit closer attention to traffic than I was to the billboards, but obviously the ad worked on me enough that I remember that there are brick streets in McCook in at least the downtown shopping area. If you are just starting to read this blog, we're newcomers buying property near Cambridge, and are not familiar with McCook yet.

What brings this to mind is that in the Thanksgiving edition of the Denver Post, the advertising sections alone weigh over 4 pounds, and that doesn't count the ads that obscure the news on almost all but the front page.

Yep, must be Black Friday. The term given to the biggest retail shopping day of the year... the day after Thanksgiving. I've read that a good many retail stores rely on the this one days sales to make or break their business.

I imagine most of you country and town folk get to miss out on some of the "excitement" of Black Friday, but city folk have lots of opportunities. Like going to bed REAL early and getting up at 11PM so you can get to the Moonlight Madness Sale at the outlet stores on the outskirts of town. This is probably the best time to shop, because the real drama starts at 4AM when the first store opens for it's"Early Bird Special" sale. The next Early Bird Special - EBS from here on - starts at 5AM just a couple miles down the road, so after running around like a chicken with it's head cut off (I've seen this and know it to be true!), it's back into the car to the 5AM EBS. Better hurry though because the next EBS is just around the corner at 5:30AM. Not much in the 5:30 EBS, but the 6AM EBS promises to be the best of all! Don't forget, the ad for the sale said "Supplies Are Limited". Oh yeah...not one of the above mentioned stores opens before 10AM other than the Christmas shopping season and a few other special shopping occasions.

Unless you have shopped this time of year in the city, you have no idea just how impersonal it can be. Well maybe you can get an idea if you've seen the evening news footage of people fighting over merchandise...if you haven't seen it yet, stand by for tomorrow night's news, there is likely to be something about a fight someplace. People seldom smile, sales clerks are frazzled, and what should be part of the joy of giving is quickly forgotten.

Now I suppose some of you have the shopping gene necessary to deal with Black Friday but me...I say bah humbug! Now shoppin' on the bricks in McCook might be OK, but Black Friday is the one day in the city I won't go shopping.